Category Archives: Cloning

Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority

TL;DR

Samsung has its own voice assistant in the form of Bixby on Galaxy smartphones. When we compare Bixby to other voice assistants, it doesnt come out on top often, primarily because of stiff competition from the likes of Google Assistant, which is also present on Galaxy smartphones. Nonetheless, Samsung hasnt given up on Bixby yet, as the company has begun rolling out the Bixby voice cloning feature to more smartphones.

Samsung introduced Bixby Text Calling alongside the One UI 5.0 update in 2022. This feature lets you answer calls by typing a message. But instead of sending the message as a text, Bixby reads out the message, and you can have it read out in your voice.

Users need to record different sentences for Bixby to analyze and create an AI-generated copy of their voice and tone for this voice cloning feature to work.

As Sammobile reports, the voice cloning feature is now rolling out widely through the Bixby Voice Creator app. Further, the voice cloning feature can be used beyond Bixby Text Calling and other text-to-speech features now, letting the voice assistant answer your queries back to you in your voice.

There is a chance that the feature is rolling out to One UI 5.1.1. We could not locate the feature on our Galaxy S23 Ultra running One UI 5.1, though it is also entirely possible that we have not yet received the feature on our phone.

To set up the voice cloning feature, you must have at least 30% battery on your phone.

Follow the rest of the steps below:

Has the voice cloning feature rolled out to your phone yet? Let us know in the comments below!

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Bixby's voice cloning feature is getting a wider rollout - Android Authority

By Sophia Boysen, BotTalk

As the traditional publishing industry embraces digitisation and seeks innovative ways to engage readers, text-to-speech (TTS) and AI voice cloning offer a plethora of advantages that promise to revolutionise the reading experience and open new possibilities for authors and publishers alike.

This blog will delve into the world of TTS and AI voice cloning, exploring their meaning, functionalities, and real-world applications.

TTS, as the name suggests, is a technology that converts written text into spoken words. This innovation bridges the gap between human language and machines, allowing computers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with users using natural-sounding voices. The process involves sophisticated algorithms and linguistic models that analyse text input and produce audio output with proper intonation, pronunciation, and cadence.

The application of TTS technology extends far beyond enhancing user experience with accessibility features for visually impaired individuals. It has become a crucial component of virtual assistants, articles and audiobooks, navigation systems, language learning tools, and more. By leveraging TTS, these applications can interact with users in a more engaging and human-like manner, significantly enhancing their usability and appeal.

AI voice cloning, also known as voice synthesis, is an advanced application of artificial intelligence that involves training a machine learning model to replicate a persons voice based on a collection of speech data. This involves recording a substantial amount of audio samples from the target voice, capturing various speech patterns, accents, and vocal nuances.

The heart of AI voice cloning lies in neural network-based models. These models analyse the voice data, learn the intricate details of the speakers voice, and generate new speech that sounds remarkably similar to the original voice.

One of the most significant advantages of incorporating TTS and AI voice cloning in publishing is the enhancement of accessibility. With TTS, written content can be converted into spoken words, allowing visually impaired readers to access books, articles, and other written materials in audio format. This inclusivity ensures that content becomes accessible to a broader audience, breaking down barriers for individuals with print disabilities and empowering them to enjoy texts independently.

For readers with limited time or attention spans, consuming online content can take time and effort. The process can be long and tedious, making it challenging to keep up with the latest information. TTS tools make staying informed easier and more convenient. These tools offer an immersive audio experience that resembles natural speaking, transforming written articles into compelling spoken content.

TTS allows readers to make the most of their time and stay informed while other activities in a world where time is precious, and attention is fleeting.

In todays digital landscape, TTS technology has emerged as an effective tool for delivering news in audio format. Recent statistics have shown impressive results, with 10 percent of readers choosing to listen to articles, and over 75 percent sticking till the end. This highlights the potential of TTS to significantly enhance users attention span for digital content.

Notably, young audiences find the audio format particularly appealing due to its convenience and minimal effort or time required. Publishers have also witnessed increased subscribers and revenue through audio advertisements, making TTS a solid approach for sustainable growth in the news publishing industry.

AI voice cloning takes reader engagement to a different level by providing personalised narration. With the ability to replicate the voices of real individuals, publishers can offer articles, audiobooks, and other audio content narrated by editors or authors themselves or renowned personalities. This personal touch not only deepens the connection between the audience and the content but also elevates the immersive experience, allowing readers to feel like they are listening to the author tell their story firsthand.

Incorporating TTS and AI voice cloning technologies in the publishing process streamlines content production and reduces costs significantly. Articles and audiobook creation, which once involved hiring voice actors and lengthy recording sessions, can now be automated using AI voice cloning. This expedites the production timeline and lowers production expenses, making articles and audiobooks a more feasible and lucrative option for publishers.

Expanding the reach of published content globally is a crucial goal for many publishers. TTS and AI voice cloning can play an integral role in achieving this by simplifying language localisation. With TTS, texts can be translated into multiple languages efficiently, reaching audiences in different regions without traditional voice recording and dubbing. This saves time and ensures consistency in narration and voice quality across various language versions.

The convergence of Text-to-Speech and AI voice cloning technologies presents a new chapter in the publishing world. Embracing these advancements unlocks many advantages, including enhanced accessibility, boosting user engagement, personalised narration, cost and time efficiency, and seamless language localisation.

As publishers assume TTS and AI voice cloning to cater to evolving reader preferences, they embark on a new journey that enriches the reading experience and opens new avenues for engaging with audiences worldwide. The future of publishing lies in the harmonious blend of tradition and technology, where TTS and AI voice cloning pave the way for an inclusive, immersive, and innovative landscape.

Sophia Boysen is the Chief Operating Officer at BotTalk and possesses a Master of Arts degree in Business Development. Together with her team, Sophia follows the vision to create the most human-sounding AI voices and audify every digital text for more accessibility and a higher user experience.

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The next chapter in publishing: Embracing text-to-speech and AI ... - WAN-IFRA

Editing videos might seem like an intimidating task, especially when you want to explore cool effects like cloning. CapCut serves as a useful editing tool for beginners, making editing less daunting. Its packed with a variety of filters, effects, and tools to help you edit the best videos.

Fortunately, you dont have to hire a professional editor to help you clone yourself in videos. CapCut allows you to easily clone yourself in videos, and you don't even need a green screen. Lets show you how easy it is to do using CapCuts overlay and masking features.

Masking is a feature that you can use in video editing to combine and blend videos into a single frame. In CapCut, the masking feature allows you to create illusions such as displaying multiple versions of yourself in one shot. Thats not all, you can also use the masking effect to remove objects, transition footage, and isolate effects.

There are two steps to cloning yourself in CapCut: recording your clips and then editing them.

CapCut provides a simple way to clone yourself in a video without any advanced video editing skills. To clone yourself in CapCut, you will first need to shoot your cloning scene.

To do that, follow these steps:

If you want to clone yourself once, you should end up with two clips of yourself in two different places in the frame.

Once you have your footage, you can create your clone video on CapCut.

Launch the CapCut app and follow these steps:

This is the easy way of cloning yourself, but you can always use green screen overlays in CapCut for more creative freedom.

Effects like cloning might seem very advanced. Luckily, CapCuts overlay and masking features make it super simple and dont require a green screen or fancy setup. So, give this tutorial a go if you want to clone yourself in a video.

If you want to explore other CapCut features, theres a lot more where that came from.

Original post:

How to Clone Yourself on CapCut Without a Green Screen - MUO - MakeUseOf

Halton Regional Police havemade a pair of arrests and laid multiple charges after a re-vinning investigation in Oakville.

On Wednesday, officers with the Halton Regional Police Service's 2 District (Oakville) auto team executed search warrantsin connection with an auto theft investigation.

As part of the warrants, a re-vinned 2021 Ford Explorer was recovered, police say. It was the fourth stolen vehicle recovered during the four-month long investigation, with total value of the vehiclesbeing approximately $250,000.

Police say the investigation determined that the accused was registering vehicles using fictitiousor cloned VINs (Vehicle Identification Numbers) with the MTO.

Bassam Abualkhair, 42,of Oakville was arrested and charged with:

Rawan Iskandarani, 39,of Oakville was also arrested and charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Both were released from custody pending a court appearance.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the 2 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4777, ext. 2216.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppersat 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) orwww.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.

More here:

Halton Police arrest two in VIN cloning investigation - HaltonHillsToday

Udit Surve

Published: 2023-08-23T07:49:05

Updated : 2023-08-23T07:49:14

Tycoon games are one of the most played genres of games on Roblox as they allow players to manage and run their own businesses of various types. From fantasy to real-life ventures, here are the best tycoon games you can play on Roblox.

Roblox hosts millions of games created by users from all over the world. You can find different genres of games on the platform, such as Popping Simulator, Creature CHAOS, DOORS, and more. One of the most popular genres out of these is tycoon games, which attract millions of players every day.

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Tycoon games let players build and manage their own business, empire, or world. They can choose from a variety of themes and also customize their tycoon with different items, features, and upgrades.

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These games are fun and engaging, as they let you experience the joys and challenges of running your own tycoon. On that note, here is a list of the best Roblox tycoon games.

Here are the ten best tycoon games on Roblox along with how many visits each has at the time of writing:

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Now that we have seen the top ten best Roblox tycoon games, lets have a closer look at the 5 best ones:

Retail Tycoon 2 is a grid-based store builder and management game that allows you to create your own retail empire from scratch. You can invite your friends to build together, customize your store layout, hire employees, stock up on various products, and attract customers with eye-catching signs.

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Whether you want to sell clothes, electronics, groceries, or anything else, you can find your niche and make your store stand out. Retail Tycoon 2 is one of the best tycoon games on Roblox, and it deserves the fifth spot on our list.

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A sequel to the original Theme Park Tycoon, which was one of the first tycoon games on Roblox, Theme Park Tycoon 2 lets you build and manage your own theme park. You can choose from a variety of locations, rides, stalls, and scenery to create your dream park by yourself or with your friends.

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The game has over 1.1 billion visits on the platform and is updated regularly with new content and features, such as water rides, hotels, restaurants, and more.

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Created by Foxzie, Car Dealership Tycoon has over 1.5 billion visits on Roblox, making it one of the highest visited tycoon games on our list. The game lets players build and customize their own car dealership by allowing them to buy and sell various cars, from classic to modern, and also upgrade them with different parts and accessories.

Players can also collect rare cars, customize them to their liking, or race them against other players. This makes the game diverse enough to suit everybodys interests.

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My Dragon Tycoon was created by Dosmas Studios, a group that has a lot of popular tycoon games under their belt. It is a fantasy and adventure game that lets you raise and customize your own dragons and evolve your dragons into different forms, such as sci-fi, ice, and fire.

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Appealing to both casual and fantasy players, My Dragon Tycoon offers a lot of fun and exploration in creating your own dragon world. And thats why its the second-best tycoon game on Roblox.

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Roblox Clone Tycoon 2 is a sci-fi and strategy game that lets you clone yourself and create an army. Players can upgrade their futuristic base, grow clones, and build a research lab to become the ruler of the cloning universe. They can also unlock stronger weapons, planes, rockets, and many more exciting items.

It is a sequel to the original Clone Tycoon and is created by Ultraw, a talented developer with over 200K followers on the platform. Clone Tycoon 2 appeals to both sci-fi fans and casual players, as it offers a lot of fun and challenge in creating your own clone army making it the best tycoon game on Roblox.

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And that was all about the best Roblox tycoon games. For more on Roblox, take a peek at:

How to Make a Gamepass on Roblox | What was the first game on Roblox|Best Roblox music codes and song IDs|Roblox Project New World codes|How to refund items on Roblox|Roblox Fire Force Online codes|Roblox Popping Simulator codes|Roblox Titan Simulator X codes|All Roblox Bleach Era codes

Read this article:

Best tycoon games on Roblox: My Dragon Tycoon, Clone Tycoon 2 ... - CharlieINTEL.com

Inside a sex toy factorys clever uses of tech and science, including cloning OnlyFans models and 3D p...  The US Sun

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Inside a sex toy factorys clever uses of tech and science, including cloning OnlyFans models and 3D p... - The US Sun

The idea of human cloning was science fiction when it was first imagined. But in the last few decades, technological and scientific advances have made this a real possibility. Although the ethics of cloning a human are questionable, the technology has led to some promising reproductive and health therapies.

The most basic definition of cloning is the creation of an exact genetic copy of an organism, tissue, cell or gene, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The how and why of cloning really depends on what is being cloned. There are three main types of cloning: Gene cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning.

Related: How stem cell cloning works (infographic)

The most commonly applied type of cloning is gene cloning. At its most basic, gene cloning is a biochemical reaction that takes place in every single cell in every organism. It's the creation of a copy of genetic material from an existing strand of genetic material. This natural reaction can be recreated in the lab and is an essential tool for many aspects of biological research.

The most commonly discussed and debated type of cloning is reproductive cloning. This type of cloning creates genetic duplicates of whole organisms from the genetic material of an already-existing organism. A cloned organism is very similar to being an identical twin to the parent organism, just born later.

And perhaps the most medically applicable type of cloning for humans is therapeutic cloning, which creates cloned embryonic stem cells of a patient to create genetically identical cells that can treat a medical condition. "Therapeutic cloning refers to the use of embryonic stem cells that in our lab we derive from somatic cells from a patient's skin," Shoukhrat Mitalipov, an embryologist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, told LiveScience in an email. "In our research lab we can develop [these cells] into different kinds of cells in the body such as neurons or cardiovascular cells."

Yes, cloning is real, but it may not look like it does in science fiction stories.

Some types of cloning occur in nature regularly. For example, bacteria can reproduce asexually, essentially cloning themselves all the time. Similarly, parthenogenesis is a unique biological phenomenon that results in the spontaneous creation of natural clones it happens in some species of sharks, amphibians, lizards and snakes. In humans, every cell in the body is a clone of the first embryo cell created when the father's sperm fertilized the mother's egg, and identical twins are natural clones.

Related: Rare 'virgin birth' of shark in Italian aquarium could be first of its kind

Cloning is also very real in the biology lab researchers worldwide use gene cloning in many ways. For example, it can create large amounts of proteins for medications like insulin or be used to detect the presence of specific strands of DNA, like in the COVID-19 PCR test.

It has been more than a quarter of a century since researchers first cloned animals from adult cells. The most well-known animal clone is Dolly the sheep, created in 1996 at the University of Edinburgh. While not the first cloned mammal, Dolly was the first created from an adult cell, rather than an embryonic or fetal cell.

To create Dolly, researchers needed to clone 277 embryos, 29 of those were healthy enough to implant, but only one survived until birth. In those early years, cloned embryos faced many failures, and the animals born alive sometimes died prematurely. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, sheep and other cloned mammals have had various organ defects, including the heart, brain and liver. Other reports suggest issues with premature aging, increased birth size and immune system issues.

Related: 20 years after Dolly the sheep, what have we learned about cloning?

The success of Dolly brought a flurry of media attention to cloning both its potential benefits and the world's fears. As a result, many countries rushed to ban cloning of all kinds.

Nevertheless, in the decades since Dolly, animal cloning has come a long way. Some services will clone pets, as Barbra Streisand had done with her pet, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Some companies will even clone an entire polo team. Polo team La Dolfina, and world-class player Adolfo Cambiaso, have for several years used cloned horses, according to a 2016 article in Science magazine.

Related: Cloning mammoths is still a dream.

The work to clone other animals has been a slow, uphill battle but over the past few decades, researchers have been working their way toward cloning humans.

In 2007, Mitalipovs research team cloned the first primate embryos rhesus macaque and used them to create embryonic stem cells, publishing the process in the journal Nature. But it took until 2018 for these technologies to result in a living cloned monkey, achieved by a team of Chinese scientists and described in their paper published in the journal Cell, Live Science previously reported. The researchers made about 80 cloned embryos, ending up with six pregnancies and just two live births.

Six years after cloning the monkeys, Mitalipovs team created embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos, research he published in 2013 in the journal Cell. At this point, many of the technologies needed to create human clones exist, but there are still many roadblocks and ethical arguments against using them to clone a human.

As cells grow and divide, they naturally create clones using cellular division, a process called mitosis. The cells use proteins and enzymes coded in their genes to copy their genetic material. As researchers developed an understanding of how cells reproduce their genes, scientists began recreating these reactions in the lab. Now, cloning genes in the lab is as easy as mixing a drink combining the proteins that cells use to copy their DNA and adding a gene to copy.

"Cloning DNA or cells is simple; it's the nature of DNA to replicate itself," Mitalipov said. "But when we say cloning of an entire organism, that's much more complex."

Most multicellular organisms replicate themselves through sexual reproduction. This process takes half of the genetic code from one organism (an egg) and half from another (a sperm). It remixes them, creating a single cell that can turn into a whole new being an embryo that might grow into a new organism if it implants in the right uterus.

But the goal of cloning is to create an embryo without remixing the genome. To do this, the researchers first start with a body cell, called a somatic cell. Somatic cells make up the majority of the body the skin, internal organs, brain cells. A somatic cell's genome has been "set" like jello into a specific shape.

Differences in the structure of somatic cell DNA dictate what genes the cell can express, according to the U.S. National Libraries of Medicine. The differences in gene expression, dictated by chemical changes called epigenetic modifications, determine how the cell looks, how it acts, and what it does in the body. And that process is limiting that cell then can't do anything else in the body. It will just age and die, and be broken down into parts to be reused.

Embryonic cells, or stem cells, on the other hand, have the potential to become any type of cell in the body because the genes they can express aren't locked in like they are in somatic cells. Researchers use both types of cells to create clones. The process originally used to create Dolly the sheep is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, as described in a 2015 review in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. In this process, scientists remove the nucleus, or genetic hub, of a somatic cell and insert it into an egg cell that has had its genome removed.

If successful, this process will reset the somatic genome's epigenetics, and result in a cloned embryo with an exact copy of the genome of the somatic cell without the epigenetic modifications. It sounds straightforward, but the process is incredibly finicky to be successful the egg needs exactly the right conditions, and these conditions differ with every species. So, when scientists attempt to clone a new animal, they're faced with making many adjustments to the general process, Mitalipov said.

"You'd have to resolve lots of mysteries and there's no standard protocol to do it," Mitalipov said. "Everything needs to be tweaked a little bit depending on the difference in species."

These might have to do with the chemical environment (including the presence of caffeine in the petri dish for human embryos) that the experiment is performed in, the application of a jolt of electricity, the timing of the steps and even how forcefully the embryo is touched while removing and inserting the somatic cell nucleus.

In his 2013 Nature paper, Mitalipov and his colleagues showed that they had found the conditions to successfully clone a human somatic cell into an embryo, which was then used to create a human embryonic stem cell line.

Following the Mitalipov team's breakthrough in 2013, and the first cloned primates in 2018, the world has been waiting to see if anyone would actually clone a human. But this hasn't happened yet.

But is it possible? The short answer is likely yes. The technology exists and there's nothing significantly different about how human genes or genetics work compared with those of other animals that have been cloned. But, based on the difficulties experienced in developing cloned animal embryos into living, full-term births, there's no saying what types of conditions or diseases a human clone might have if one was born. We also know that it would likely require creating many many embryos to get one live birth a very ethically murky proposition.

Related: Artist's 'cloning agency' replicates Jesus, Lady Gaga

Additionally, humans (and other animals) are more than their DNA. The environment human bodies and brains are exposed to in the womb, during development and extending through childhood and young adulthood, plays a big part in creating who a person is. And just as epigenetic modifications alter how genes are expressed to create specialized somatic cells, they also reflect the things cells and bodies have gone through adding another major layer of complication into the question.

families, many others believe this kind of research is ethically problematic.

The creation and destruction of human embryos is a sticking point for many major religions, and others worry about the potential diseases and conditions that this process might inflict on a cloned baby.

Related: Human cloning? Stem cell advance reignites ethics debate

For these reasons and more, many countries and U.S. states have put bans on human cloning experiments. In the U.S., there are no federal laws against cloning humans, but multiple states have laws prohibiting cloning for any purpose. Multiple others prohibit funding of human cloning. According to intellectual property attorneys Knobbe Martens, 10 states allow the creation of human cloned embryos but prevent them from being implanted researchers can destroy them to create embryonic stem cell lines.

The use of three-parent IVF is illegal due to a 2015 amendment introduced by Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican from Alabama, to the 2016 appropriations bill. The amendment forbade clinical trials of heritable genetic modifications. However, patients and scientists are pushing to change that, according to STAT News.

More than 30 countries ban human cloning experiments, according to a 2007 review published by Rice University. In 15 countries, there are bans on human reproductive cloning but not on the creation of cloned embryonic stem cells. Other countries do not have any specific legislation banning human cloning.

While polo ponies are no doubt important to some, there are several other ways that technologies developed through these cloning experiments may be important in the future, Mitalipov said.

Mitalipov's work on somatic cell nuclear transfer in humans has led directly to the development of reproductive technologies that allow women with mitochondrial diseases (which these women pass down to offspring through their eggs) and infertility issues to have healthy children that are genetically related to them. Previously, women with mitochondrial diseases had no recourse other than to pass their condition on or not have biological children.

Now, technology developed by Mitalipov's lab is used to strip donor eggs of their DNA and move the nucleus from the mother's egg, resulting in a healthy embryo that is genetically related to the mother, according to a 2014 review in the journal Fertility and Sterility. Multiple "three-parent babies" have been born using these methods at clinics in the Ukraine and Greece, according to STAT News.

Related: Prenatal genetic screening tests: Benefits & risks

The ability to create cloned embryonic stem cells using somatic nuclear transfer is also promising for developing therapies that a patient's immune system wouldn't reject. These clonal stem cell therapies could create new organs or cells for people that could replace damaged ones.

"You can theoretically use those cells to treat a patient with a neurodegenerative disease or a cardiovascular disease," Mitalipov said. These cells "could, in theory, lead to the development of stem cell therapies treating neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, cardiac disease and spinal cord injuries."

The cloned stem cells can be created now, but there are roadblocks on the research and clinical end to developing these therapies.

"Unfortunately, no therapies have been developed yet," Mitalipov said. "We can grow neurons in a petri dish, but how do you integrate neurons into the brain or other types of cells into relevant organs like the heart? It's going to be very difficult."

In the future, Mitalipov hopes that some of the technologies he's working on now can help create genetically related babies for same-sex couples or infertile couples. For example, his lab is currently figuring out how to remove half of the DNA from a cloned embryonic cell to create an egg cell.

If researchers create a cloned egg cell from the somatic cells of a man or infertile female, it could then be fertilized with the sperm from another man, creating an embryo. Using the cloning technology this way would give same-sex or infertile couples a way to have genetically related babies.

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How does cloning work? | Live Science

It was a glorious day in the hills above Edinburgh, Scotland, when old friends and scientific colleagues Ian Wilmut and Alan Trounson set off on a hike two decades ago. High over the city, Wilmut confided that he had a secret to share. As part of a larger study, he and several co-workers had successfully birthed a lamb in the labnot from egg and sperm but from DNA taken from an adult sheeps mammary gland. They had cloned a mammal. Crikey, I was stunned, says Trounson, who is nowas thena stem cell biologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He remembers sitting down hard on a nearby stone. It was a warm day but Trounson felt a chill pass over him as he realized the implications. It changed everything.

Cloning a mammal defied the scientific dogma of its time. The success led to dire and fantastic predictions: Humans would be cloned. Diseases would be prevented. Lost children rebirthed. Today, two decades after Dollys birth on July 5, 1996, the impact of cloning on basic science has surpassed expectations whereas the reality of what is technically called nuclear transferthe form of cloning used with Dollyhas largely faded from public consciousness.

In 2016 cloning a person remains unfeasible, with no scientific benefit and an unacceptable level of risk, several scientists say. Most know of no one even considering the feat. And the cloning of animals remains limitedalthough it is likely growing. Some agricultural cloning is used in the U.S. and China to capitalize on the genes of a few extraordinary specimens, scientists say, but the European Parliament voted last year to ban cloning animals for food. One scientist in South Korea charges $100,000 to clone pets, although the level of demand for the service is unclear.

Clonings biggest impact, several researchers say, has been in the stem cell advances it has sparked. Stem cell biologist Shinya Yamanaka said via e-mail that Dollys cloning motivated him to begin developing stem cells derived from adult cellsan accomplishment that won him a Nobel Prize in 2012. Dolly the Sheep told me that nuclear reprogramming is possible even in mammalian cells and encouraged me to start my own project, wrote Yamanaka, who splits his time between the University of California, San Francisco, and the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University in Japan, which he directs. He used adult cellsfirst in mice, although the technique is now feasible in human cellsto make stem cells that can form a wide range of other cells, essentially turning their cellular clocks back to infancy so they could mature into different adults. Because they are artificially created and can have a variety of futures, they are called induced pluripotent stem (or iPS) cells. The rise of these iPS cells has reduced the need for embryonic stem cellswhich have long caused ethical concerns for someand iPS cells now form the basis for most of todays stem cell research.

Dollys birth was transformative because it proved that the nucleus of the adult cell had all the DNA necessary to give rise to another animal, says stem cell biologist Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the Division of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in London. Previous researchers had derived adult frogs from embryonic frog cells or embryonic frog cells from adultsat which point their development stalled. Dolly was the first example of taking an adult cell and getting an adult, Lovell-Badge says. That meant you could reprogram an adult cell nucleus back to an embryonic stage.

Dolly died on February 14, 2003, at age six from a lung infection common among animals who are not given access to the outdoors. It probably had nothing to do with her being a cloned animal, says Wilmut, now an emeritus professor at the The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh where he did his initial work.

The sheep, made from breast cells, was famously named after Dolly Parton, the American singer known for her large chest as well as her voice. It wasnt meant to be disrespectful to the lady in question or to women in general, Wilmut said recently, of the name suggested by a stockman. Rather, it helped humanize a research project that might otherwise have seemed detached from everyday life. Science and its presentation can sometimes look terribly serious, he said. I think it was good for usit made us look human.

Wilmut admits Dollys birth was a lucky accident. He and his colleagues were trying to make clones from fetal cells and used adult ones as experimental controlsnot expecting that they would actually generate an embryo of their own. We didnt set out to clone adult cells. We set out to work withideallyembryonic stem cells or things like that, Wilmut says. Being successful with adult cells was a very considerable, unexpected bonus.

The initial aim of the research was to use an animals milk production system as a factory of sorts, manufacturing proteins to treat human diseases. But interest in that idea has declined with the rise of inexpensive synthetic chemicals.

Wilmut says he thinks it would be possible to clone a humanbut highly unadvisable. The cloning technique used to create Dolly has been shown not to work in primates. He believes it could be possible using other techniques but said he is vehemently opposed to the idea of cloning a person. Just because it may now work in the sense of producing offspring doesnt mean to say we should do it, he says. The likelihood is you would get pregnancy losses, abnormal births. For example, one of the lambs his lab cloned soon after Dolly developed lung problems that caused it to hyperventilate and regularly pass out. It was distressing enough to see that in an animal, he says. I wouldnt want to be the person who looked a cloned child in the face and said very sorry. With recent advances in gene-editing technology, the need for cloning to correct genetic errors will decline even further, he notes. Theres even less reason for doing it now than before..

Trounson says he believes there is a large market for cloned livestock embryos. Its pretty busy out there, kind of surprisingly and below the surface, he says. The benefits genomically for production excellence and driving up production parameters is very good, adds Trounson, who recently stepped down after six years as president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a state agency that provides loans and grants for stem cell research. Thats probably the driver that has kept companies doing it in the U.S.

The U.S. government decided in 2008 that there were no discernable differences between cloned and noncloned cows, goats and pigs, so it allowed the process in those animals, although mainly for breeding rather than meat production. In China a company called Boyalife Group has plans to produce at least 100,0000 cloned beef cattlea fraction of the total number of animals slaughtered each year in that country, a company spokesperson wrote via e-mail. We might be at the best time to advance this technology into applications from both a technology perspective and from a market perspective [in China].

Theoretically, cloning could also be used to bring back endangered species. There has been talk of using it to restore woolly mammoths, giant pandas and even Neandertalsideas Lovell-Badge dismisses as fairly silly. Trounson says he still has a stash of skin samples from critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombats stored in liquid nitrogen, in case someone ever wants to attempt to restore the speciess numbers. Clones, however, are created by taking an adult cell and fusing it to a recipient egg cell. Making a clone requires an intact nucleus, which would not be available for most extinct species.

Several researchers are now using cloning techniques to produce embryonic stem cells, thereby avoiding the need to collect new embryos. So-called somatic cell nuclear transfer may help researchers better understand early human embryogenesis and stem cell biology, according to Paul Knoepfler, a biologist at the University of California, Davis, who is not directly involved in the work. Knoepfler wrote via e-mail that he does not see any imminent therapeutic benefit [to that work], but that could change in the future.

The idea of cloning a deceased loved onehuman or pethas fallen out of favor in part because of the recognition that environment affects behavior. The genetics might be the same but would a clone still be the same lovable individual? Youre never going to get Tibble back, or whatever, Lovell-Badge says, noting that he thinks the idea of cloning a pet is stupid. He adds, The only possible use that I can sort of vaguely think of is if you have a particular valuable dog, with skills like super-sniffing that scientists would want to determine was inborn or behavioral.

Lovell-Badge is even more dismissive of the idea of cloning a person. Wed have to know an awful lot more about reprogramming and how to make it 100 percent efficient, he says. I have never thought of a good enough reason for a human being.

Here is the original post:

20 Years after Dolly the Sheep Led the WayWhere Is Cloning Now?

Until the early 1970s DNA was the most difficult cellular molecule for the biochemist to analyze. Enormously long and chemically monotonous, the string of nucleotides that forms the genetic material of an organism could be examined only indirectly, by protein or RNA sequencing or by genetic analysis. Today the situation has changed entirely. From being the most difficult macromolecule of the cell to analyze, DNA has become the easiest. It is now possible to isolate a specific region of a genome, to produce a virtually unlimited number of copies of it, and to determine the sequence of its nucleotides overnight. At the height of the Human Genome Project, large facilities with automated machines were generating DNA sequences at the rate of 1000 nucleotides per second, around the clock. By related techniques, an isolated gene can be altered (engineered) at will and transferred back into the germ line of an animal or plant, so as to become a functional and heritable part of the organism's genome.

These technical breakthroughs in genetic engineeringthe ability to manipulate DNA with precision in a test tube or an organismhave had a dramatic impact on all aspects of cell biology by facilitating the study of cells and their macromolecules in previously unimagined ways. They have led to the discovery of whole new classes of genes and proteins, while revealing that many proteins have been much more highly conserved in evolution than had been suspected. They have provided new tools for determining the functions of proteins and of individual domains within proteins, revealing a host of unexpected relationships between them. By making available large amounts of any protein, they have shown the way to efficient mass production of protein hormones and vaccines. Finally, by allowing the regulatory regions of genes to be dissected, they provide biologists with an important tool for unraveling the complex regulatory networks by which eucaryotic gene expression is controlled.

Recombinant DNA technology comprises a mixture of techniques, some new and some borrowed from other fields such as microbial genetics (). Central to the technology are the following key techniques:

Some Major Steps in the Development of Recombinant DNA and Transgenic Technology.

Cleavage of DNA at specific sites by restriction nucleases, which greatly facilitates the isolation and manipulation of individual genes.

DNA cloning either through the use of cloning vectors or the polymerase chain reaction, whereby a single DNA molecule can be copied to generate many billions of identical molecules.

Nucleic acid hybridization, which makes it possible to find a specific sequence of DNA or RNA with great accuracy and sensitivity on the basis of its ability to bind a complementary nucleic acid sequence.

Rapid sequencing of all the nucleotides in a purified DNA fragment, which makes it possible to identify genes and to deduce the amino acid sequence of the proteins they encode.

Simultaneous monitoring of the expression level of each gene in a cell, using nucleic acid microarrays that allow tens of thousands of hybridization reactions to be performed simultaneously.

In this chapter we describe each of these basic techniques, which together have revolutionized the study of cell biology.

Unlike a protein, a gene does not exist as a discrete entity in cells, but rather as a small region of a much longer DNA molecule. Although the DNA molecules in a cell can be randomly broken into small pieces by mechanical force, a fragment containing a single gene in a mammalian genome would still be only one among a hundred thousand or more DNA fragments, indistinguishable in their average size. How could such a gene be purified? Because all DNA molecules consist of an approximately equal mixture of the same four nucleotides, they cannot be readily separated, as proteins can, on the basis of their different charges and binding properties. Moreover, even if a purification scheme could be devised, vast amounts of DNA would be needed to yield enough of any particular gene to be useful for further experiments.

The solution to all of these problems began to emerge with the discovery of restriction nucleases. These enzymes, which can be purified from bacteria, cut the DNA double helix at specific sites defined by the local nucleotide sequence, thereby cleaving a long double-stranded DNA molecule into fragments of strictly defined sizes. Different restriction nucleases have different sequence specificities, and it is relatively simple to find an enzyme that can create a DNA fragment that includes a particular gene. The size of the DNA fragment can then be used as a basis for partial purification of the gene from a mixture.

Different species of bacteria make different restriction nucleases, which protect them from viruses by degrading incoming viral DNA. Each nuclease recognizes a specific sequence of four to eight nucleotides in DNA. These sequences, where they occur in the genome of the bacterium itself, are protected from cleavage by methylation at an A or a C residue; the sequences in foreign DNA are generally not methylated and so are cleaved by the restriction nucleases. Large numbers of restriction nucleases have been purified from various species of bacteria; several hundred, most of which recognize different nucleotide sequences, are now available commercially.

Some restriction nucleases produce staggered cuts, which leave short single-stranded tails at the two ends of each fragment (). Ends of this type are known as cohesive ends, as each tail can form complementary base pairs with the tail at any other end produced by the same enzyme (). The cohesive ends generated by restriction enzymes allow any two DNA fragments to be easily joined together, as long as the fragments were generated with the same restriction nuclease (or with another nuclease that produces the same cohesive ends). DNA molecules produced by splicing together two or more DNA fragments are called recombinant DNA molecules; they have made possible many new types of cell-biological studies.

The DNA nucleotide sequences recognized by four widely used restriction nucleases. As in the examples shown, such sequences are often six base pairs long and palindromic (that is, the nucleotide sequence is the same if the helix is turned (more...)

Restriction nucleases produce DNA fragments that can be easily joined together. Fragments with the same cohesive ends can readily join by complementary base-pairing between their cohesive ends, as illustrated. The two DNA fragments that join in this example (more...)

The length and purity of DNA molecules can be accurately determined by the same types of gel electrophoresis methods that have proved so useful in the analysis of proteins. The procedure is actually simpler than for proteins: because each nucleotide in a nucleic acid molecule already carries a single negative charge, there is no need to add the negatively charged detergent SDS that is required to make protein molecules move uniformly toward the positive electrode. For DNA fragments less than 500 nucleotides long, specially designed polyacrylamide gels allow separation of molecules that differ in length by as little as a single nucleotide (). The pores in polyacrylamide gels, however, are too small to permit very large DNA molecules to pass; to separate these by size, the much more porous gels formed by dilute solutions of agarose (a polysaccharide isolated from seaweed) are used (). These DNA separation methods are widely used for both analytical and preparative purposes.

Gel electrophoresis techniques for separating DNA molecules by size. In the three examples shown, electrophoresis is from top to bottom, so that the largestand thus slowest-movingDNA molecules are near the top of the gel. In (A) a polyacrylamide (more...)

A variation of agarose gel electrophoresis, called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, makes it possible to separate even extremely long DNA molecules. Ordinary gel electrophoresis fails to separate such molecules because the steady electric field stretches them out so that they travel end-first through the gel in snakelike configurations at a rate that is independent of their length. In pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, by contrast, the direction of the electric field is changed periodically, which forces the molecules to reorient before continuing to move snakelike through the gel. This reorientation takes much more time for larger molecules, so that longer molecules move more slowly than shorter ones. As a consequence, even entire bacterial or yeast chromosomes separate into discrete bands in pulsed-field gels and so can be sorted and identified on the basis of their size (). Although a typical mammalian chromosome of 108 base pairs is too large to be sorted even in this way, large segments of these chromosomes are readily separated and identified if the chromosomal DNA is first cut with a restriction nuclease selected to recognize sequences that occur only rarely (once every 10,000 or more nucleotide pairs).

The DNA bands on agarose or polyacrylamide gels are invisible unless the DNA is labeled or stained in some way. One sensitive method of staining DNA is to expose it to the dye ethidium bromide, which fluoresces under ultraviolet light when it is bound to DNA (see ,). An even more sensitive detection method incorporates a radioisotope into the DNA molecules before electrophoresis; 32P is often used as it can be incorporated into DNA phosphates and emits an energetic particle that is easily detected by autoradiography (as in ).

Two procedures are widely used to label isolated DNA molecules. In the first method a DNA polymerase copies the DNA in the presence of nucleotides that are either radioactive (usually labeled with 32P) or chemically tagged (). In this way DNA probes containing many labeled nucleotides can be produced for nucleic acid hybridization reactions (discussed below). The second procedure uses the bacteriophage enzyme polynucleotide kinase to transfer a single 32P-labeled phosphate from ATP to the 5 end of each DNA chain (). Because only one 32P atom is incorporated by the kinase into each DNA strand, the DNA molecules labeled in this way are often not radioactive enough to be used as DNA probes; because they are labeled at only one end, however, they have been invaluable for other applications including DNA footprinting, as we see shortly.

Methods for labeling DNA molecules in vitro. (A) A purified DNA polymerase enzyme labels all the nucleotides in a DNA molecule and can thereby produce highly radioactive DNA probes. (B) Polynucleotide kinase labels only the 5 ends of DNA strands; (more...)

Today, radioactive labeling methods are being replaced by labeling with molecules that can be detected chemically or through fluorescence. To produce such nonradioactive DNA molecules, specially modified nucleotide precursors are used (). A DNAmolecule made in this way is allowed to bind to its complementary DNA sequence by hybridization, as discussed in the next section, and is then detected with an antibody (or other ligand) that specifically recognizes its modified side chain (see ).

Here, six different DNA probes have been used to mark the location of their respective nucleotide sequences on human chromosome 5 at metaphase. The probes have been chemically labeled and detected with fluorescent antibodies. Both copies of chromosome (more...)

When an aqueous solution of DNA is heated at 100C or exposed to a very high pH (pH 13), the complementary base pairs that normally hold the two strands of the double helix together are disrupted and the double helix rapidly dissociates into two single strands. This process, called DNA denaturation, was for many years thought to be irreversible. In 1961, however, it was discovered that complementary single strands of DNA readily re-form double helices by a process called hybridization (also called DNA renaturation) if they are kept for a prolonged period at 65C. Similar hybridization reactions can occur between any two single-stranded nucleic acid chains (DNA/DNA, RNA/RNA, or RNA/DNA), provided that they have complementary nucleotide sequences. These specific hybridization reactions are widely used to detect and characterize specific nucleotide sequences in both RNA and DNA molecules.

Single-stranded DNA molecules used to detect complementary sequences are known as probes; these molecules, which carry radioactive or chemical markers to facilitate their detection, can be anywhere from fifteen to thousands of nucleotides long. Hybridization reactions using DNA probes are so sensitive and selective that they can detect complementary sequences present at a concentration as low as one molecule per cell. It is thus possible to determine how many copies of any DNA sequence are present in a particular DNA sample. The same technique can be used to search for related but nonidentical genes. To find a gene of interest in an organism whose genome has not yet been sequenced, for example, a portion of a known gene can be used as a probe ().

Different hybridization conditions allow less than perfect DNA matching. When only an identical match with a DNA probe is desired, the hybridization reaction is kept just a few degrees below the temperature at which a perfect DNA helix denatures in the (more...)

Alternatively, DNA probes can be used in hybridization reactions with RNA rather than DNA to find out whether a cell is expressing a given gene. In this case a DNA probe that contains part of the gene's sequence is hybridized with RNA purified from the cell in question to see whether the RNA includes molecules matching the probe DNA and, if so, in what quantities. In somewhat more elaborate procedures the DNA probe is treated with specific nucleases after the hybridization is complete, to determine the exact regions of the DNA probe that have paired with cellular RNA molecules. One can thereby determine the start and stop sites for RNA transcription, as well as the precise boundaries of the intron and exon sequences in a gene ().

The use of nucleic acid hybridization to determine the region of a cloned DNA fragment that is present in an mRNA molecule. The method shown requires a nuclease that cuts the DNA chain only where it is not base-paired to a complementary RNA chain. The (more...)

Today, the positions of intron/exon boundaries are usually determined by sequencing the cDNA sequences that represent the mRNAs expressed in a cell. Comparing this expressed sequence with the sequence of the whole gene reveals where the introns lie. We review later how cDNAs are prepared from mRNAs.

We have seen that genes are switched on and off as a cell encounters new signals in its environment. The hybridization of DNA probes to cellular RNAs allows one to determine whether or not a particular gene is being transcribed; moreover, when the expression of a gene changes, one can determine whether the change is due to transcriptional or posttranscriptional controls (see ). These tests of gene expression were initially performed with one DNA probe at a time. DNA microarrays now allow the simultaneous monitoring of hundreds or thousands of genes at a time, as we discuss later. Hybridization methods are in such wide use in cell biology today that it is difficult to imagine how we could study gene structure and expression without them.

DNA probes are often used to detect, in a complex mixture of nucleic acids, only those molecules with sequences that are complementary to all or part of the probe. Gel electrophoresis can be used to fractionate the many different RNA or DNA molecules in a crude mixture according to their size before the hybridization reaction is performed; if molecules of only one or a few sizes become labeled with the probe, one can be certain that the hybridization was indeed specific. Moreover, the size information obtained can be invaluable in itself. An example illustrates this point.

Suppose that one wishes to determine the nature of the defect in a mutant mouse that produces abnormally low amounts of albumin, a protein that liver cells normally secrete into the blood in large amounts. First, one collects identical samples of liver tissue from mutant and normal mice (the latter serving as controls) and disrupts the cells in a strong detergent to inactivate cellular nucleases that might otherwise degrade the nucleic acids. Next, one separates the RNA and DNA from all of the other cell components: the proteins present are completely denatured and removed by repeated extractions with phenola potent organic solvent that is partly miscible with water; the nucleic acids, which remain in the aqueous phase, are then precipitated with alcohol to separate them from the small molecules of the cell. Then one separates the DNA from the RNA by their different solubilities in alcohols and degrades any contaminating nucleic acid of the unwanted type by treatment with a highly specific enzymeeither an RNase or a DNase. The mRNAs are typically separated from bulk RNA by retention on a chromatography column that specifically binds the poly-A tails of mRNAs.

To analyze the albumin-encoding mRNAs with a DNA probe, a technique called Northern blotting is used. First, the intact mRNA molecules purified from mutant and control liver cells are fractionated on the basis of their sizes into a series of bands by gel electrophoresis. Then, to make the RNA molecules accessible to DNA probes, a replica of the pattern of RNA bands on the gel is made by transferring (blotting) the fractionated RNA molecules onto a sheet of nitrocellulose or nylon paper. The paper is then incubated in a solution containing a labeled DNA probe whose sequence corresponds to part of the template strand that produces albumin mRNA. The RNA molecules that hybridize to the labeled DNA probe on the paper (because they are complementary to part of the normal albumin gene sequence) are then located by detecting the bound probe by autoradiography or by chemical means (). The size of the RNA molecules in each band that binds the probe can be determined by reference to bands of RNA molecules of known sizes (RNA standards) that are electrophoresed side by side with the experimental sample. In this way one might discover that liver cells from the mutant mice make albumin RNA in normal amounts and of normal size; alternatively, albumin RNA of normal size might be detected in greatly reduced amounts. Another possibility is that the mutant albumin RNA molecules might be abnormally short and therefore move unusually quickly through the gel; in this case the gel blot could be retested with a series of shorter DNA probes, each corresponding to small portions of the gene, to reveal which part of the normal RNA is missing.

Detection of specific RNA or DNA molecules by gel-transfer hybridization. In this example, the DNA probe is detected by its radioactivity. DNA probes detected by chemical or fluorescence methods are also widely used (see Figure 8-24). (A) A mixture of (more...)

An analogous gel-transfer hybridization method, called Southern blotting, analyzes DNA rather than RNA. Isolated DNA is first cut into readily separable fragments with restriction nucleases. The double-stranded fragments are then separated on the basis of size by gel electrophoresis, and those complementary to a DNA probe are identified by blotting and hybridization, as just described for RNA (see ). To characterize the structure of the albumin gene in the mutant mice, an albumin-specific DNA probe would be used to construct a detailed restriction map of the genome in the region of the albumin gene. From this map one could determine if the albumin gene has been rearranged in the defective animalsfor example, by the deletion or the insertion of a short DNA sequence; most single base changes, however, could not be detected in this way.

Nucleic acids, no less than other macromolecules, occupy precise positions in cells and tissues, and a great deal of potential information is lost when these molecules are extracted by homogenization. For this reason, techniques have been developed in which nucleic acid probes are used in much the same way as labeled antibodies to locate specific nucleic acid sequences in situ, a procedure called in situhybridization. This procedure can now be done both for DNA in chromosomes and for RNA in cells. Labeled nucleic acid probes can be hybridized to chromosomes that have been exposed briefly to a very high pH to disrupt their DNA base pairs. The chromosomal regions that bind the probe during the hybridization step are then visualized. Originally, this technique was developed with highly radioactive DNA probes, which were detected by auto-radiography. The spatial resolution of the technique, however, can be greatly improved by labeling the DNA probes chemically () instead of radioactively, as described earlier.

In situ hybridization methods have also been developed that reveal the distribution of specific RNA molecules in cells in tissues. In this case the tissues are not exposed to a high pH, so the chromosomal DNA remains double-stranded and cannot bind the probe. Instead the tissue is gently fixed so that its RNA is retained in an exposed form that can hybridize when the tissue is incubated with a complementary DNA or RNA probe. In this way the patterns of differential gene expression can be observed in tissues, and the location of specific RNAs can be determined in cells (). In the Drosophila embryo, for example, such patterns have provided new insights into the mechanisms that create distinctions between cells in different positions during development (described in Chapter 21).

(A) Expression pattern of deltaC in the early zebrafish embryo. This gene codes for a ligand in the Notch signaling pathway (discussed in Chapter 15), and the pattern shown here reflects its role in the development of somitesthe future segments (more...)

Any DNA fragment that contains a gene of interest can be cloned. In cell biology, the term DNA cloning is used in two senses. In one sense it literally refers to the act of making many identical copies of a DNA moleculethe amplification of a particular DNA sequence. However, the term is also used to describe the isolation of a particular stretch of DNA (often a particular gene) from the rest of a cell's DNA, because this isolation is greatly facilitated by making many identical copies of the DNA of interest.

DNA cloning in its most general sense can be accomplished in several ways. The simplest involves inserting a particular fragment of DNA into the purified DNA genome of a self-replicating genetic elementgenerally a virus or a plasmid. A DNA fragment containing a human gene, for example, can be joined in a test tube to the chromosome of a bacterial virus, and the new recombinant DNA molecule can then be introduced into a bacterial cell. Starting with only one such recombinant DNA molecule that infects a single cell, the normal replication mechanisms of the virus can produce more than 1012 identical virus DNA molecules in less than a day, thereby amplifying the amount of the inserted human DNA fragment by the same factor. A virus or plasmid used in this way is known as a cloning vector, and the DNA propagated by insertion into it is said to have been cloned.

To isolate a specific gene, one often begins by constructing a DNA librarya comprehensive collection of cloned DNA fragments from a cell, tissue, or organism. This library includes (one hopes) at least one fragment that contains the gene of interest. Libraries can be constructed with either a virus or a plasmid vector and are generally housed in a population of bacterial cells. The principles underlying the methods used for cloning genes are the same for either type of cloning vector, although the details may differ. Today most cloning is performed with plasmid vectors.

The plasmid vectors most widely used for gene cloning are small circular molecules of double-stranded DNA derived from larger plasmids that occur naturally in bacterial cells. They generally account for only a minor fraction of the total host bacterial cell DNA, but they can easily be separated owing to their small size from chromosomal DNA molecules, which are large and precipitate as a pellet upon centrifugation. For use as cloning vectors, the purified plasmid DNA circles are first cut with a restriction nuclease to create linear DNA molecules. The cellular DNA to be used in constructing the library is cut with the same restriction nuclease, and the resulting restriction fragments (including those containing the gene to be cloned) are then added to the cut plasmids and annealed via their cohesive ends to form recombinant DNA circles. These recombinant molecules containing foreign DNA inserts are then covalently sealed with the enzyme DNA ligase ().

The insertion of a DNA fragment into a bacterial plasmid with the enzyme DNA ligase. The plasmid is cut open with a restriction nuclease (in this case one that produces cohesive ends) and is mixed with the DNA fragment to be cloned (which has been prepared (more...)

In the next step in preparing the library, the recombinant DNA circles are introduced into bacterial cells that have been made transiently permeable to DNA; such cells are said to be transfected with the plasmids. As these cells grow and divide, doubling in number every 30 minutes, the recombinant plasmids also replicate to produce an enormous number of copies of DNA circles containing the foreign DNA (). Many bacterial plasmids carry genes for antibiotic resistance, a property that can be exploited to select those cells that have been successfully transfected; if the bacteria are grown in the presence of the antibiotic, only cells containing plasmids will survive. Each original bacterial cell that was initially transfected contains, in general, a different foreign DNA insert; this insert is inherited by all of the progeny cells of that bacterium, which together form a small colony in a culture dish.

Purification and amplification of a specific DNA sequence by DNA cloning in a bacterium. To produce many copies of a particular DNA sequence, the fragment is first inserted into a plasmid vector, as shown in Figure 8-30. The resulting recombinant plasmid (more...)

For many years, plasmids were used to clone fragments of DNA of 1,000 to 30,000 nucleotide pairs. Larger DNA fragments are more difficult to handle and were harder to clone. Then researchers began to use yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs), which could handle very large pieces of DNA (). Today, new plasmid vectors based on the naturally occurring F plasmid of E. coli are used to clone DNA fragments of 300,000 to 1 million nucleotide pairs. Unlike smaller bacterial plasmids, the F plasmidand its derivative, the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)is present in only one or two copies per E. coli cell. The fact that BACs are kept in such low numbers in bacterial cells may contribute to their ability to maintain large cloned DNA sequences stably: with only a few BACs present, it is less likely that the cloned DNA fragments will become scrambled due to recombination with sequences carried on other copies of the plasmid. Because of their stability, ability to accept large DNA inserts, and ease of handling, BACs are now the preferred vector for building DNA libraries of complex organismsincluding those representing the human and mouse genomes.

The making of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC). A YAC vector allows the cloning of very large DNA molecules. TEL, CEN, and ORI are the telomere, centromere, and origin of replication sequences, respectively, for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (more...)

Cleaving the entire genome of a cell with a specific restriction nuclease and cloning each fragment as just described is sometimes called the shotgun approach to gene cloning. This technique can produce a very large number of DNA fragmentson the order of a million for a mammalian genomewhich will generate millions of different colonies of transfected bacterial cells. (When working with BACs rather than typical plasmids, larger fragments can be inserted, so fewer transfected bacterial cells are required to cover the genome.) Each of these colonies is composed of a clone of cells derived from a single ancestor cell, and therefore harbors many copies of a particular stretch of the fragmented genome (). Such a plasmid is said to contain a genomic DNA clone, and the entire collection of plasmids is called a genomic DNA library. But because the genomic DNA is cut into fragments at random, only some fragments contain genes. Many of the genomic DNA clones obtained from the DNA of a higher eucaryotic cell contain only noncoding DNA, which, as we discussed in Chapter 4, makes up most of the DNA in such genomes.

Construction of a human genomic DNA library. A genomic library is usually stored as a set of bacteria, each carrying a different fragment of human DNA. For simplicity, cloning of just a few representative fragments (colored) is shown. In reality, all (more...)

An alternative strategy is to begin the cloning process by selecting only those DNA sequences that are transcribed into mRNA and thus are presumed to correspond to protein-encoding genes. This is done by extracting the mRNA (or a purified subfraction of the mRNA) from cells and then making a complementary DNA (cDNA) copy of each mRNA molecule present; this reaction is catalyzed by the reverse transcriptase enzyme of retroviruses, which synthesizes a DNA chain on an RNA template. The single-stranded DNA molecules synthesized by the reverse transcriptase are converted into double-stranded DNA molecules by DNA polymerase, and these molecules are inserted into a plasmid or virus vector and cloned (). Each clone obtained in this way is called a cDNA clone, and the entire collection of clones derived from one mRNA preparation constitutes a cDNA library.

The synthesis of cDNA. Total mRNA is extracted from a particular tissue, and DNA copies (cDNA) of the mRNA molecules are produced by the enzyme reverse transcriptase (see p. 289). For simplicity, the copying of just one of these mRNAs into cDNA is illustrated. (more...)

There are important differences between genomic DNA clones and cDNA clones, as illustrated in . Genomic clones represent a random sample of all of the DNA sequences in an organism and, with very rare exceptions, are the same regardless of the cell type used to prepare them. By contrast, cDNA clones contain only those regions of the genome that have been transcribed into mRNA. Because the cells of different tissues produce distinct sets of mRNA molecules, a distinct cDNA library is obtained for each type of cell used to prepare the library.

The differences between cDNA clones and genomic DNA clones derived from the same region of DNA. In this example gene A is infrequently transcribed, whereas gene B is frequently transcribed, and both genes contain introns (green). In the genomic DNA library, (more...)

The use of a cDNA library for gene cloning has several advantages. First, some proteins are produced in very large quantities by specialized cells. In this case, the mRNA encoding the protein is likely to be produced in such large quantities that a cDNA library prepared from the cells is highly enriched for the cDNA molecules encoding the protein, greatly reducing the problem of identifying the desired clone in the library (see ). Hemoglobin, for example, is made in large amounts by developing erythrocytes (red blood cells); for this reason the globin genes were among the first to be cloned.

By far the most important advantage of cDNA clones is that they contain the uninterrupted coding sequence of a gene. As we have seen, eucaryotic genes usually consist of short coding sequences of DNA (exons) separated by much longer noncoding sequences (introns); the production of mRNA entails the removal of the noncoding sequences from the initial RNA transcript and the splicing together of the coding sequences. Neither bacterial nor yeast cells will make these modifications to the RNA produced from a gene of a higher eucaryotic cell. Thus, when the aim of the cloning is either to deduce the amino acid sequence of the protein from the DNA sequence or to produce the protein in bulk by expressing the cloned gene in a bacterial or yeast cell, it is much preferable to start with cDNA.

Genomic and cDNA libraries are inexhaustible resources that are widely shared among investigators. Today, many such libraries are also available from commercial sources.

In the late 1970s methods were developed that allowed the nucleotide sequence of any purified DNA fragment to be determined simply and quickly. They have made it possible to determine the complete DNA sequences of tens of thousands of genes, and many organisms have had their DNA genomes fully sequenced (see Table 1-1, p. 20). The volume of DNA sequence information is now so large (many tens of billions of nucleotides) that powerful computers must be used to store and analyze it.

Large volume DNA sequencing was made possible through the development in the mid-1970s of the dideoxy method for sequencing DNA, which is based on in vitro DNA synthesis performed in the presence of chain-terminating dideoxyribonucleoside triphosphates ().

The enzymaticor dideoxymethod of sequencing DNA. (A) This method relies on the use of dideoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, derivatives of the normal deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates that lack the 3 hydroxyl group. (B) Purified (more...)

Although the same basic method is still used today, many improvements have been made. DNA sequencing is now completely automated: robotic devices mix the reagents and then load, run, and read the order of the nucleotide bases from the gel. This is facilitated by using chain-terminating nucleotides that are each labeled with a different colored fluorescent dye; in this case, all four synthesis reactions can be performed in the same tube, and the products can be separated in a single lane of a gel. A detector positioned near the bottom of the gel reads and records the color of the fluorescent label on each band as it passes through a laser beam (). A computer then reads and stores this nucleotide sequence.

Automated DNA sequencing. Shown here is a tiny part of the data from an automated DNA-sequencing run as it appears on the computer screen. Each colored peak represents a nucleotide in the DNA sequencea clear stretch of nucleotide sequence can (more...)

Now that DNA sequencing is so rapid and reliable, it has become the preferred method for determining, indirectly, the amino acid sequences of most proteins. Given a nucleotide sequence that encodes a protein, the procedure is quite straightforward. Although in principle there are six different reading frames in which a DNA sequence can be translated into protein (three on each strand), the correct one is generally recognizable as the only one lacking frequent stop codons (). As we saw when we discussed the genetic code in Chapter 6, a random sequence of nucleotides, read in frame, will encode a stop signal for protein synthesis about once every 20 amino acids. Those nucleotide sequences that encode a stretch of amino acids much longer than this are candidates for presumptive exons, and they can be translated (by computer) into amino acid sequences and checked against databases for similarities to known proteins from other organisms. If necessary, a limited amount of amino acid sequence can then be determined from the purified protein to confirm the sequence predicted from the DNA.

Finding the regions in a DNA sequence that encode a protein. (A) Any region of the DNA sequence can, in principle, code for six different amino acid sequences, because any one of three different reading frames can be used to interpret the nucleotide sequence (more...)

The problem comes, however, in determining which nucleotide sequenceswithin a whole genome sequencerepresent genes that encode proteins. Identifying genes is easiest when the DNA sequence is from a bacterial or archeal chromosome, which lacks introns, or from a cDNA clone. The location of genes in these nucleotide sequences can be predicted by examining the DNA for certain distinctive features (discussed in Chapter 6). Briefly these genes that encode proteins are identified by searching the nucleotide sequence for open reading frames (ORFs) that begin with an initiation codon, usually ATG, and end with a termination codon, TAA, TAG, or TGA. To minimize errors, computers used to search for ORFs are often directed to count as genes only those sequences that are longer than, say, 100 codons in length.

For more complex genomes, such as those of eucaryotes, the process is complicated by the presence of large introns embedded within the coding portion of genes. In many multicellular organisms, including humans, the average exon is only 150 nucleotides long. Thus in eucaryotes, one must also search for other features that signal the presence of a gene, for example, sequences that signal an intron/exon boundary or distinctive upstream regulatory regions.

A second major approach to identifying the coding regions in chromosomes is through the characterization of the nucleotide sequences of the detectable mRNAs (in the form of cDNAs). The mRNAs (and the cDNAs produced from them) lack introns, regulatory DNA sequences, and the nonessential spacer DNA that lies between genes. It is therefore useful to sequence large numbers of cDNAs to produce a very large collection (called a database) of the coding sequences of an organism. These sequences are then readily used to distinguish the exons from the introns in the long chromosomal DNA sequences that correspond to genes.

Finally, nucleotide sequences that are conserved between closely related organisms usually encode proteins. Comparison of these conserved sequences in different species can also provide insight into the function of a particular protein or gene, as we see later in the chapter.

Owing in large part to the automation of DNA sequencing, the genomes of many organisms have been fully sequenced; these include plant chloroplasts and animal mitochondria, large numbers of bacteria and archea, and many of the model organisms that are studied routinely in the laboratory, including several yeasts, a nematode worm, the fruit fly Drosophila, the model plant Arabidopsis, the mouse, and, last but not least, humans. Researchers have also deduced the complete DNA sequences for a wide variety of human pathogens. These include the bacteria that cause cholera, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, Lyme disease, and stomach ulcers, as well as hundreds of virusesincluding smallpox virus and Epstein-Barr virus (which causes infectious mononucleosis). Examination of the genomes of these pathogens should provide clues about what makes them virulent, and will also point the way to new and more effective treatments.

Haemophilus influenzae (a bacterium that can cause ear infections or meningitis in children) was the first organism to have its complete genome sequenceall 1.8 million nucleotidesdetermined by the shotgun sequencing method, the most common strategy used today. In the shotgun method, long sequences of DNA are broken apart randomly into many shorter fragments. Each fragment is then sequenced and a computer is used to order these pieces into a whole chromosome or genome, using sequence overlap to guide the assembly. The shotgun method is the technique of choice for sequencing small genomes. Although larger, more repetitive genome sequences are more tricky to assemble, the shotgun method has been useful for sequencing the genomes of Drosophila melanogaster, mouse, and human.

With new sequences appearing at a steadily accelerating pace in the scientific literature, comparison of the complete genome sequences of different organisms allows us to trace the evolutionary relationships among genes and organisms, and to discover genes and predict their functions. Assigning functions to genes often involves comparing their sequences with related sequences from model organisms that have been well characterized in the laboratory, such as the bacterium E. coli, the yeasts S. cerevisiae and S. pombe, the nematode worm C. elegans, and the fruit fly Drosophila (discussed in Chapter 1).

Although the organisms whose genomes have been sequenced share many cellular pathways and possess many proteins that are homologous in their amino acid sequences or structure, the functions of a very large number of newly identified proteins remain unknown. Some 1540% of the proteins encoded by these sequenced genomes do not resemble any other protein that has been characterized functionally. This observation underscores one of the limitations of the emerging field of genomics: although comparative analysis of genomes reveals a great deal of information about the relationships between genes and organisms, it often does not provide immediate information about how these genes function, or what roles they have in the physiology of an organism. Comparison of the full gene complement of several thermophilic bacteria, for example, does not reveal why these bacteria thrive at temperatures exceeding 70C. And examination of the genome of the incredibly radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans does not explain how this organism can survive a blast of radiation that can shatter glass. Further biochemical and genetic studies, like those described in the final sections of this chapter, are required to determine how genes function in the context of living organisms.

Now that so many genome sequences are available, genes can be cloned directly without the need to construct DNA libraries first. A technique called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) makes this rapid cloning possible. PCR allows the DNA from a selected region of a genome to be amplified a billionfold, effectively purifying this DNA away from the remainder of the genome.

Two sets of DNA oligonucleotides, chosen to flank the desired nucleotide sequence of the gene, are synthesized by chemical methods. These oligonucleotides are then used to prime DNA synthesis on single strands generated by heating the DNA from the entire genome. The newly synthesized DNA is produced in a reaction catalyzed in vitro by a purified DNA polymerase, and the primers remain at the 5 ends of the final DNA fragments that are made ().

Amplification of DNA using the PCR technique. Knowledge of the DNA sequence to be amplified is used to design two synthetic DNA oligonucleotides, each complementary to the sequence on one strand of the DNA double helix at opposite ends of the region to (more...)

Nothing special is produced in the first cycle of DNA synthesis; the power of the PCR method is revealed only after repeated rounds of DNA synthesis. Every cycle doubles the amount of DNA synthesized in the previous cycle. Because each cycle requires a brief heat treatment to separate the two strands of the template DNA double helix, the technique requires the use of a special DNA polymerase, isolated from a thermophilic bacterium, that is stable at much higher temperatures than normal, so that it is not denatured by the repeated heat treatments. With each round of DNA synthesis, the newly generated fragments serve as templates in their turn, and within a few cycles the predominant product is a single species of DNA fragment whose length corresponds to the distance between the two original primers (see ).

In practice, 2030 cycles of reaction are required for effective DNA amplification, with the products of each cycle serving as the DNA templates for the nexthence the term polymerase chain reaction. A single cycle requires only about 5 minutes, and the entire procedure can be easily automated. PCR thereby makes possible the cell-free molecular cloning of a DNA fragment in a few hours, compared with the several days required for standard cloning procedures. This technique is now used routinely to clone DNA from genes of interest directlystarting either from genomic DNA or from mRNA isolated from cells ().

Use of PCR to obtain a genomic or cDNA clone. (A) To obtain a genomic clone by using PCR, chromosomal DNA is first purified from cells. PCR primers that flank the stretch of DNA to be cloned are added, and many cycles of the reaction are completed (see (more...)

The PCR method is extremely sensitive; it can detect a single DNA molecule in a sample. Trace amounts of RNA can be analyzed in the same way by first transcribing them into DNA with reverse transcriptase. The PCR cloning technique has largely replaced Southern blotting for the diagnosis of genetic diseases and for the detection of low levels of viral infection. It also has great promise in forensic medicine as a means of analyzing minute traces of blood or other tissueseven as little as a single celland identifying the person from whom they came by his or her genetic fingerprint ().

How PCR is used in forensic science. (A) The DNA sequences that create the variability used in this analysis contain runs of short, repeated sequences, such as CACACA . . . , which are found in various positions (loci) in the human genome. The number (more...)

Fifteen years ago, the only proteins in a cell that could be studied easily were the relatively abundant ones. Starting with several hundred grams of cells, a major proteinone that constitutes 1% or more of the total cellular proteincan be purified by sequential chromatography steps to yield perhaps 0.1 g (100 mg) of pure protein. This amount was sufficient for conventional amino acid sequencing, for detailed analysis of biochemical activities, and for the production of antibodies, which could then be used to localize the protein in the cell. Moreover, if suitable crystals could be grown (often a difficult task), the three-dimensional structure of the protein could be determined by x-ray diffraction techniques, as we will discuss later. The structure and function of many abundant proteinsincluding hemoglobin, trypsin, immunoglobulin, and lysozymewere analyzed in this way.

The vast majority of the thousands of different proteins in a eucaryotic cell, however, including many with crucially important functions, are present in very small amounts. For most of them it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain more than a few micrograms of pure material. One of the most important contributions of DNA cloning and genetic engineering to cell biology is that they have made it possible to produce any of the cell's proteins in nearly unlimited amounts.

Large amounts of a desired protein are produced in living cells by using expression vectors (). These are generally plasmids that have been designed to produce a large amount of a stable mRNA that can be efficiently translated into protein in the transfected bacterial, yeast, insect, or mammalian cell. To prevent the high level of the foreign protein from interfering with the transfected cell's growth, the expression vector is often designed so that the synthesis of the foreign mRNA and protein can be delayed until shortly before the cells are harvested ().

Production of large amounts of a protein from a protein-coding DNA sequence cloned into an expression vector and introduced into cells. A plasmid vector has been engineered to contain a highly active promoter, which causes unusually large amounts of mRNA (more...)

Production of large amounts of a protein by using a plasmid expression vector. In this example, bacterial cells have been transfected with the coding sequence for an enzyme, DNA helicase; transcription from this coding sequence is under the control of (more...)

Because the desired protein made from an expression vector is produced inside a cell, it must be purified away from the host cell proteins by chromatography following cell lysis; but because it is such a plentiful species in the cell lysate (often 110% of the total cell protein), the purification is usually easy to accomplish in only a few steps. Many expression vectors have been designed to add a molecular taga cluster of histidine residues or a small marker proteinto the expressed protein to make possible easy purification by affinity chromatography, as discussed previously (see pp. 483484). A variety of expression vectors are available, each engineered to function in the type of cell in which the protein is to be made. In this way cells can be induced to make vast quantities of medically useful proteinssuch as human insulin and growth hormone, interferon, and viral antigens for vaccines. More generally, these methods make it possible to produce every proteineven those that may be present in only a few copies per cellin large enough amounts to be used in the kinds of detailed structural and functional studies that we discuss in the next section ().

Knowledge of the molecular biology of cells makes it possible to experimentally move from gene to protein and from protein to gene. A small quantity of a purified protein is used to obtain a partial amino acid sequence. This provides sequence information (more...)

DNA technology can also be used to produce large amounts of any RNA molecule whose gene has been isolated. Studies of RNA splicing, protein synthesis, and RNA-based enzymes, for example, ar greatly facilitated by the availability of pure RNA molecules. Most RNAs are present in only tiny quantities in cells, and they are very difficult to purify away from other cellular componentsespecially from the many thousands of other RNAs present in the cell. But any RNA of interest can be synthesized efficiently in vitro by transcription of its DNA sequence with a highly efficient viral RNA polymerase. The single species of RNA produced is then easily purified away from the DNA template and the RNA polymerase.

DNA cloning allows a copy of any specific part of a DNA or RNA sequence to be selected from the millions of other sequences in a cell and produced in unlimited amounts in pure form. DNA sequences can be amplified after cutting chromosomal DNA with a restriction nuclease and inserting the resulting DNA fragments into the chromosome of a self-replicating genetic element. Plasmid vectors are generally used and the resulting genomic DNA library is housed in millions of bacterial cells, each carrying a different cloned DNA fragment. Individual cells that are allowed to proliferate produce large amounts of a single cloned DNA fragment from this library. As an alternative, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) allows DNA cloning to be performed directly with a purified, thermostable DNA polymeraseproviding that the DNA sequence of interest is already known.

The procedures used to obtain DNA clones that correspond in sequence to mRNA molecules are the same except that a DNA copy of the mRNA sequence, called cDNA, is first made. Unlike genomic DNA clones, cDNA clones lack intron sequences, making them the clones of choice for analyzing the protein product of a gene.

Nucleic acid hybridization reactions provide a sensitive means of detecting a gene or any other nucleotide sequence of choice. Under stringent hybridization conditions (a combination of solvent and temperature where a perfect double helix is barely stable), two strands can pair to form a hybrid helix only if their nucleotide sequences are almost perfectly complementary. The enormous specificity of this hybridization reaction allows any single-stranded sequence of nucleotides to be labeled with a radioisotope or chemical and used as a probe to find a complementary partner strand, even in a cell or cell extract that contains millions of different DNA and RNA sequences. Probes of this type are widely used to detect the nucleic acids corresponding to specific genes, both to facilitate their purification and characterization and to localize them in cells, tissues, and organisms.

The nucleotide sequence of purified DNA fragments can be determined rapidly and simply by using highly automated techniques based on the dideoxy method for sequencing DNA. This technique has made it possible to determine the complete DNA sequences of tens of thousands of genes and to completely sequence the genomes of many organisms. Comparison of the genome sequences of different organisms allows us to trace the evolutionary relationships among genes and organisms, and it has proved valuable for discovering new genes and predicting their function.

Taken together, these techniques have made it possible to identify, isolate, and sequence genes from any organism of interest. Related technologies allow scientists to produce the protein products of these genes in the large quantities needed for detailed analyses of their structure and function, as well as for medical purposes.

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Isolating, Cloning, and Sequencing DNA - Molecular Biology of the Cell ...

Cellular fraud is defined as the unauthorized use, tampering or manipulation of a cellular phone or service. Types of cellular fraud include SIM swapping, cloning and subscriber fraud.

What is SIM Swapping or a Port-Out Scam?

Your mobile phone number may be the key to your most important financial accounts. Text messages are often used by banks, businesses and payment services to verify your identity when you request updates to your account.

Mobile phone numbers can legally be ported from one provider to another when you switch your mobile phone service, and can also be ported from one mobile phone to another when you upgrade or change devices. But with enough of your personal information, scammers can have your number ported to a device they possess.

When scammers initiate a porting request, they con the victims mobile phone company into believing the request is from the authorized account holder. If the scam is successful, the phone number will be ported to a different mobile device controlled by the scammer.

Another way to perpetrate this scam is to physically steal the victims SIM card, a removable device in some mobile phones that carries a unique ID and stores the consumers personal data. The scammer can then use the stolen SIM card in their own mobile device.

In either case, the scammer can gain control over the victim's private texts and calls, and may then try to reset credentials for the victim's financial data and social media accounts. If successful, the scammer can drain the victims bank accounts and sell or ransom their social media data.

Learn more about this scam and how to protect yourself.

eSIM May Decrease SIM Swap Risk

Embedded SIM cards eSIM cards for short have replaced traditional SIM cards in newer cell phone models. The eSIM cards are much smaller and hardwired inside the phone, so theyre not removable, eliminating some of the security risk for physical SIM swaps. However, port-out scams remain a security concern.

Also, consumers should always wipe their eSIM data when they replace their phones. Learn more in our eSIM consumer FAQ.

What is cell phone or SIM cloning fraud?

Every cell phone should have a unique factory-set electronic serial number (ESN) and a mobile identification number (MIN). A cloned cell phone is one that has been reprogrammed to transmit the ESN and MIN belonging to another cell phone. Scammers can steal ESN/MIN combinations by illegally monitoring the radio wave transmissions from the cell phones of legitimate subscribers. After cloning, both the legitimate and the fraudulent cell phones have the same ESN/MIN combination and cellular providers cannot distinguish the cloned cell phone from the legitimate one. Scammers can then run up expensive toll charges and the legitimate phone user gets billed for the cloned phone's calls. Alert your service provider if you see unauthorized calls or charges on your account.

What is subscriber fraud?

Subscriber fraud occurs when a scammer signs up for cellular service with fraudulently obtained customer information or false identification. Criminals can obtain your personal information and use it to set up a cell phone account in your name. It may take time to discover that subscriber fraud has occurred, and even more time to prove that you did not incur the debts. Millions of dollars are lost each year due to subscriber fraud.

If you think you have been a victim of subscriber fraud:

Continue to monitor your credit report at each credit bureau at least once a year. Consider checking a different credit bureau report every four months for free at annualcreditreport.com.

Cell Phone Fraud (pdf)

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Cell Phone Fraud | Federal Communications Commission